Kabalevsky, Colas Breugnon Overture

I promised flash and bang for this week, and here it is. The Soviet composer Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904-1987) wrote quite a lot of energetic music, and this overture is among his best known. Arturo Toscanini conducted it often and, since Toscanini was a favorite of my father, Colas Breugnon made it onto my listening list early.

In contrast to some of his contemporaries like Shostakovich and Prokofiev, Kabalevsky managed to stay on the good side of the Soviet authorities by adhering to principles of Socialist Realism:

Novelists were expected to produce uplifting stories in a manner consistent with the Marxist doctrine of dialectical materialism. Composers were to produce rousing, vivid music that reflected the life and struggles of the proletariat. – New World Enclyclopedia

Kabalevsky based the opera on the 1919 novel by Romain Rolland. Rolland, a Frenchman and opera specialist, was a fan of Stalin. In 1935, he traveled to Moscow and was introduced to Stalin by Maxim Gorky. Rolland remained influential in Russian artistic circles, so it comes as no surprise that he and Kabalevsky would rub elbows. The full opera is performed infrequently, and the overture stands as its main claim to fame.

Kabalevsky took a strong interest in music education and in introducing children to serious music. He wrote pieces for children, including easy piano works to develop their skills while training their musical sensibilities. He also composed songs for small children and anthems for Soviet youth organizations, making him the best known composer for two generations of Russians.